California Dreamin'

Eleven years ago this past fall, I received, from the Lord, the defining revelation of my life and ministry. While studying the book of Proverbs, in preparation for preaching at Lakewood Church, the Lord imparted to me the Church By God’s Design revelation out of Proverbs 9:1. Shortly after receiving the revelation, I came to realize that the Church By God's Design message was not just for "a" church, but for "the" church.

About six years later (I'm uncertain of the exact year, and being on a plane while writing this, I have no way of verifying it), I journeyed alone to sunny southern California with a dream in my heart of documenting this God given revelation in book form. I located a small, but comfortable house on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach and set up both shop and residence. For more than six weeks, I labored to record all the Church By God’s Design teaching that was bubbling up in my spirit.

My daily routine consisted of waking up early, having a bite to eat, and then delving into the topic of the day. After a short break for lunch, I would again put nose to grindstone and write until around four o’clock in the afternoon, at which time, I would lace up my running shoes and take off down the walk/run path that ran adjacent to the beautiful, blue Pacific Ocean. If I was feeling any stress at all from the long days of writing, it would surely dissipate as the sights and sounds of southern California filled my soul. Ahhhh…I can still feel the sun on my face and the cool summer wind blowing off the ocean, flooding my senses with the healing fragrance of the salty sea air.

Often, after my daily runs, I would sit on the observation deck of my rented home and gaze at the beautiful Newport Harbor to the east, with all its bright and shining sea going vessels, and the mesmerizing beachfront to the west, with its waves crashing in a relaxing melody of near heavenly music. I was hard pressed for an imagination that was more perfect than the reality I was experiencing everyday. I was most definitely, “California Dreamin’”.

You may be wondering what the significance of all this is. Why would I include these memories in a blog to “the greatest and best church staff in the Kingdom”? Well very recently (two days ago), April planned a little get away, just the two of us, to Newport Beach. She did this in response to my persistent complaining about how exhausted I was feeling. So, in a flash (and several of you can attest to that), we jumped on a plane and headed west. I wasn’t reluctant to go, but was a little reluctant to leave my pressing work behind. So, in a moment of compromise, I decided to take some of my work with me on the plane, having cut a deal with myself that I would put away my work as soon as I arrived in California. Well, one of the most pressing and important projects I’m working on is the final edits of my book (yes, the aforementioned Church By God’s Design). So I pulled out the last two chapters of my manuscript and began combing over the pages searching for typos and/or grammatical errors that I did not want to appear in print.

As I finished (for good) the last additions, deletions and corrections to my manuscript, I realized that my California Dream had finally come to pass…and on a plane to none other than sunny southern California where it had all started! Another full circle journey of God’s great grace was complete.

God has been so good to me! I’m constantly amazed at His plan for my life - one that is exceedingly, abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think. So, I will be praising and thanking God, in sunny southern California, that by His divine will and providence, a God-dream has finally come to pass…and who knows, maybe while walking along the shore of the azure blue Pacific Ocean, I might, by some gracious act of God’s goodness, find myself drifting away in the Spirit to discover another piece of the overall plan of God for me…for us! So here’s to you, my beloved confidants in the vision, and to us, who labor together to fulfill the collective will of God...and to California Dreamin’ which in my book is never overrated!

Our Greatest Days Are Just Ahead!

When the hope-filled, life-altering message of Pastor John Osteen first reached me, it came as an answer to a desperate prayer. As a 24 year old young man, with my whole life ahead of me, I found myself in a tragically hopeless situation, in which I suffered terribly from a mysterious immune system disorder. I become extremely allergic to most things I was eating, drinking and breathing. The symptoms were numerous and varied and often severe. I was forced to leave my station in life, and return home to my parents house, where a special room was prepared, isolating me from the world I was so allergic to. My parents installed air and water filters, kept the room as clean as possible, and put me on a special rotational diet.

My father, being a physician, led the search for the appropriate medical treatment. After seeing a score of medical specialists, who could offer no diagnosis or hope for a cure, I was resigned to live a pitiful existence, with no hope of a productive, joy-filled life.

One evening, when the depression was greater than I could bear, I cried out in desperation to a God I could not see. In answer to my prayer, I was directed by the Spirit to turn on the television. As the image came on the screen, there was John Osteen pointing his finger into the camera saying, "You don't have to die with the devil, but you can live for Jesus and proclaim the works of the Lord." It was as if a heavenly bolt of lightning pierced the darkness of my situation, and for the first time in over a year I had hope to live a normal life.

Over the next three months, I watched John Osteen every time he was on. As I applied what I was learning, faith began to rise in my heart, the symptoms began to leave me, and ultimately I was healed by the power of God. In all actuality, because of God's great mercy and grace, my greatest days of life and ministry were just ahead of me.

In a wonderful act of divine providence, I was allowed the tremendous privilege of serving along side John Osteen as his son-in-law and assistant for ten years. In that period of time, I heard him say a thousand times, "Our greatest days of life and ministry are just ahead of us." That simple statement became a battle cry of hope, renewal and faith that kept us always moving forward with great expectancy for the future.

He was in his mid sixties when he came through the TV to touch my life. Even though Daddy Osteen was in the golden years of his life and ministry, He never stopped looking forward to the future. He always believed that God had even more wonderful things in store. I guess you could call him an eternal optimist! He was 77 when he died in my arms and went to be with Jesus. The last decade of his life was his greatest and best. At the time of his passing, he was reaching more than 100 nations each month through video tape and was investing more than four million dollars a year in world missions.

After Daddy Osteen's promotion to heaven (more evidence that the best is yet to come), April and I heeded the call to found High Point Church with 16 people in our home on Lake Arlington. God blessed us with explosive growth and a tremendous metro-wide impact. In our early years we were one of the fastest growing churches in the country. In 2005, with our Each One, Win One, In One soul winning campaign, we saw more than 5,000 decisions made for Christ and water baptized more than 1,000 people. God was moving and the church was experiencing supernatural blessings.

Since then, we have stayed true to the heavenly vision God gave me over a decade ago. Our growth has slowed, but we are still seeing 2,500 to 3,500 decisions for Christ and 700 to 900 water baptisms each year. Our ministry outreach to the nations is now exploding, and like in the early years, we are now growing in associated pastors and churches at a supernatural rate. Last year alone we visited 15 different nations in 17 outreaches.

With all the wonderful successes and the rich experiences of our past, you might think we could settle into a satisfied complacency...telling the tales and reliving the excitement of the "glory days" of old. But living in the past is not part of our make up. We have been taught that as long as their is breath in our body we should look forward with eager expectation to the future. And anyway, there are too many excited and inspired people on our staff today who were not with us in the "glory days" of the past, who are ready to write some new stories of the goodness and grace of God at work at High Point Church.

If you're like me, you want to be a history maker for Jesus! As Daddy Osteen said often, "Great it is to dream the dream. When you stand in youth by the starry stream. But a greater thing is to fight life through. And say in the end, the dream is true!" So what do you say? Are you ready to make 2010 a year to remember? I'm determined we're not giving up, giving out or giving in. We are taking new territory for Christ this year! So it's in the spirit of the eternal optimist that I say with all faith, expectation, and enthusiasm - Our Greatest Days of Life and Ministry Are Just Ahead!!!

Meeting You at the Point of Your Need!

Ten years ago, this past January 23rd, High Point Church hosted its first public church service at Workman Jr. High School on Arbrook Rd. just a mile or two west of our current location. April and I were excited to begin our new life and ministry in the DFW Metroplex. In obedience to the charge of God to leave our church and family in Houston and "go to a land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1), we embarked on our journey of faith with nothing more than a vision (the 7 Pillars) and a desire to help hurting people. This passion to help the "sighing, crying, and dying " of the world was passed down to us by our dad Pastor John Osteen, and of course, Dodie.

On that first Sunday service in 2000, hanging on the back wall of the Workman Jr. High stage was a banner that read, "High Point Church, Meeting You at the Point of Your Need." This statement was more than just a catchy slogan or meaningless bi-line to our logo. It summed, to a tee, our passion and purpose for existance. We were there to rescue the perishing and care for the desperate and dying. Everything we did revolved around meeting the needs of people. Other slogans we embraced included: "Every Member is a Minister" and "We Haven't Come to Build Buildings but to Build People." High Point Church was founded upon the basic concept of "We are not a Display Case for Perfect People, but a Hospital for Hurting People."

This deep conviction and commitment to reach the unreachable, love the unloveable, and touch the untouchable is what made High Point Church a great place to be! The willingness to wash the dirtiest of feet was why our humble church exploded in growth. As we celebrate ten faithful years of caring, lets not let our dynamite get wet. Let's always remember why we are here. Jesus set the example by saying, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransome for many." We are here to serve and to give our lives to minister to the hurting and hopeless...and that is the greatest calling of all! So this Sunday, and everyday after, let's remember what made High Point great. Let's remember that banner on the back wall of the stage at Workman Jr. High; and let's remember our greatness is in our passion to Meet Hurting People at the Point of Their Need!



What say you?

I Work with the Greatest and Best Church Staff in the Kingdom

It's true!!! I really do work with the Greatest and Best Church Staff in the Kingdom! I'm not just saying it either. I really do believe it! Just think about it: What other staff shares such a supernatural and miraculous history? Starting in a living room with 16 people; marching around the Ball Park in Arlington asking God to give us church that could fill the stadium; growing from 16 to 1,600 in about a year; wrestling the sales contract for the J&J campus out of the hands of the U.S. Department of Defense; raising $4.4 million in 6 months for the down payment, the last $1.4 million coming miraculously in the 11th hour; hosting outreaches in Vandergriff Park, feeding over 10,000 people; not to mention the Festival of Lights, the Patriotic Salutes, the Fall Fun Fests and the Winter Snow Fest! Remember the Glory and the Fire Outreaches and the Operation Prayer Force? We've enjoyed great victories together and endured times of testing. But through it all, we've never changed our vision. As the apostle Paul said, "I stayed true to the heavenly vision." And so have we! And we have only just begun! The time is right to fulfill the prophecy of Marilyn Hickey who said that High Point would have a similar anointing as Rev. Cho's church in South Korea. I guess you can image what that means. We have loved and labored, laughed, and yes, even cried together; and the truth is, there's no other group of people in the entire world I would rather share life with than you. So next time I press a little hard or push us to what seems to be the end of our ability, remember that one day when we stand before Jesus and hear Him say, "Well done," then we will share a common reward and a common joy that will last forever!